FA Cup is the premier competition for all clubs in England,which means not only the elite ones like Chelsea,Manchester United,Liverpool get to participate but even the lesser known like West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers who have been giving the Premiership sides a run for their money with the number of trophies won.
India has been a progressive football loving nation in recent times with Cricket still leading the way.(..by far!)ESPN and Star Sports had been the big daddies in broadcasting English and Spanish Leagues and UEFA Champions League in India.
Newly borns,Ten Sports and Neo Sports were not to be outdone as they came up with Serie A(Italian League),Bundesliga(German League),French League,Scottish League.Ten Sports also got the rights to broadcast Champions League in the Indian sub-continent which has been a disaster for me as a viewer with awful coverage and disastrous commentary service.Along with that,Zee Sports isn't available on TATA Sky so the choice of watching either of the two football matches has been confined to just one match which majorly happens to be an English side which also confines the concept of "European" football.
The same scenario has happened with FA Cup now with the rights being taken over by Sony Pix.The channel premierly deals in movie content.FA Cup rights were earlier held by ESPN and Star Sports.What annoys me the most is why would a channel acquire the rights and not show any matches to earn their money back.Right now they have the prospect and chances of airing 3 consecutive football matches of FA Cup but they would be airing only 1,which isn't confirmed either.
So all you football fans in India of the oldest football competition in the world,its a no show until things improve!(read ESPN Star reacquiring the rights!)
Link which would come in handy : Sony Pix's FA Cup schedule
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